Pipe-topping machine.



No. 878,685. PATENTED FEB. 11, 1908. G. O. STRUTZ.

PIPE TOPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0073.23. 1907.

2 SHBETB-SHEBT l.

witness No. 878,685. PATENTED FEB. 11, 1908.

O. O. STRUTZ.

PIPE TOPPING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED 00123. 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHIBET 2.

v! awweutoz 11% km use:

CHARLES OSCAR sTnUTz, or wasnrneron, inssouai.

rrrnrorrnic Machine.

and. 878,685.

Specification of Letters fi atent.

Patented Feb. 1 1, 1908.

Application filed October 23' 1907- Eierial No. 398.848.

To all whom it may concern:-

Be it known that I, CnAnLEs ()soAn STRUTz, a citizen of the United States, resid ing at Washington, in the county of Frank- 111i and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Pipe-Topping Machine, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture pfflcnrn'cob pipes, the cobs are first .sawed intollingths," then bored to form the tobacco well, and then turned into shape. After this the pi e blanks are tumbled toremove particles 0 material still clinging to the surface of the ipe, and are filled by placing the pipe in aso ution of plaster of paris, which enters the pores.

pipes are then dried and after the drying operation are scoured, shellacked, and then slickened, prior to the so called operation of toping, which smooths the to and bottom suraces of the pipes, after w 'ch the pipes re ceive the stem holes and are labeled and given the final two coats of shellac.

The operation of top ing or smoothing the surfaces of the tops anc bottoms of the pi Des has heretofore been carried on exclusive y y hand in the manufacture of corn cob pi es, it being found im ossible owing to the ack of uniformity in t -e length and diameter of the pipes to employ machines for thatpurpose. The usual topping operation was accomplished by the operator holding first, the topand then the bottom of the pipe in contact with a rapidly revolving abrading surface, usually in the form of a disk covered with sand-paper or like material.

' The prin'cipal'object of the present lIlVeIl." tion is to provide a machine for accomplishing the to ping operation, such machine beingcapab e of handling pipes of any length and any diameter.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine of this type in'which the pipes are fed from a suitable magazineor reservoir and carried between a pair of abrading surfaces to accomplish the topping oper ation, after which .the pipes are automatically discharged to a suitable receptacle. in readiness for the subsequent operations.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a machine in which the a'ln-ading surfaces will automatically ad ust themselves to receive p pes of diilerent length,

and in which the topping operatiim may be accom llSllGd under practically the same degree 0' pressure, no matter what the length of the pipe may be.

' will more fully hereinafter a The i With these and other objects in view, as

tion consists in certain nove 'eatures of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinout in the' appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. a

In the accompanying 'drawings:Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a pilrl topping machine constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the machine, partly in section, and parts being broken away in order to more clearly illustrate the construction. Fig.3 is a transverse sectional view illustrating a slight modification. Fig. i is a similar view illustrating a construction in whichanendless carrier is used in place of the, carrier.

Similar numr'irals of reference are oniployed to indicate corresponding I arts throughout the several figures of the rawlngs.

The working parts of the machine aresupported on a suitable base of anydesired con struction, and said base is provided with standards 11 for the reception of a horizontally disposed shaft 12 on which is a belt Wheel 13 driven from any suitable source of power.

Mounted on the shaft 12 is a pi 1e feed disk 14, that is provided with aplurality o e uidistantly spaced peripheral notches 15, vdhich are arranged to receive the pipes'from a reservoir or chute 16. The reservoir or chute extends in a direction practically radially from the axis of the shaft 12, and at the lower portion is of a width sufiicient to receive only a single pipe. The bottom of the reservoir proper terminates at a distance from the periphery of the disk 14 greater than the diameter of-the largest pipe to be operated upon, and at the discharge side of the reservoir are s )ring fingers 17 which will prevent. accidenta discharge of the lowermost pipe. At the opposite side of the res ear, the inven rcvoluhle ervoir is a plate 18 that, extends down. close to the periphery of the disk Li and is pro-- vided with vertical slot 19 for the passage of a pipe engaging finger 20. This pipe engaging finger 20 is arcuate in form, and its inner end is in the form of a leaf spring that is permanently securedin a slot formed in the peri hery of the disk. The outer or free end of tie finger has a slightly rounded head in order that it may engage between the lowermost and the second pipes of the reservoir, without injuring either pipe, and the finger yields in' one direction' or the other asmay be dictated by the diameter of the lowermost pipe. On the lower side of this finger is a small'cam 21, which serves to direct the pipe into the notch or groove 15 of the disk, so that during the rotation of the disk the suc cessively lowermost pipes will be engaged by the finger and removed from the reservoir, the spring 17 yielding as the pipes are dis charged.

The pipes are arranged to travel around rather more than half the circumference of the disk, and in order to prevent their falling out during the topping 0 eration, a holding spring 23 is employed, t is spring being in the form of a narrow strip of metal secured at its upper end to a carrying bar 24 and curved to conform to theeontour ofthe disk. As the fingers 19 engage the spring strip 23 they are pressed more firmly into engagement with the pipe and will rigidly clamp the ipe in, place until the finger passes beyou the end of the spring. At this point the weight of the pipe will be imposed on the spring finger, and the latter will yield in order to allow the pipe to fall by gravity from the disk. At each side of the feeding disk is arranged a pair of standards 30, said standards carrying bearings for a shaft 31 that is bored out for the greater portion of its length and is free for bothlongitudinal and rotative movement in the bearings. This shaft carries a pulley 32 that may be driven by a belt from any suitable source of power, and at one end of the shaft is an annular groove 34. for the reception of the bifurcated upper end of a lever 35 that is ivot'ed to a standard or bracket 36 on the iiase. The lower end of the lever 35 is engaged by a rod 37. The inner end of said rod is provided with an anti-friction roller 3h that is arranged to be engaged by a cam 3-3?) projecting from the opposite sides ol-tho feeding disk, there being a many cams on the disk as there are pipe lending lingers.

Mounted on the hollow shaft 3] is a second shaft 4 there being a feathered connection betweenth'e two in order to insure rotativc movement of said shaft 41. At the inner end of the shaft 41 is a disk 42 and one face of the face adjacent the feeding wheel or disk is covered with abrasive material, such as sand-paper. The edge of the disk is flared outward in order to facilitate the entrance and discharge of the pipes and the disk is pressed forward toworking position by means of a spring 44 that is arranged in the bore of the hollow shaft 41.

In the operation. of the machine, the pipes are fed from the reservoir by the fingers 19, and as the pipe approaches the abrading disks 42 said disks are spread apart by springs 46 which engage the rods 37 and ull the inner ends of the rods toward each 0t er. In order to prevent the abrading disks moving toward each other to such an extent as to prevent the entrance of the pipe, a limiting pin 47 carried by the outer shaft 31 engages the end of a groove 42 formed in the inner shaft 41. The pipe having entered between the disks, one set of cams 39 engage with the anti-friction rollers 38 at the inner ends of the rods 37 and force the same outward. This movement is transferred to the shafts 31 and the latter are forced toward each other compelling the abrading disks to move into engagement with the ends of the ipe. As the abrading disks are revolved at high speed, they will finish the ends oflthe pipe, and if the pipe is a longone, the springs 44 will yield to a greater extent than if the pipe is of lesser length, the extent of movement being such that the additional compression force exerted by the spring will not make any material difference in the pressure exerted on the pipe. The topping operation is completed before the pipes pass beyond the peripheral line of the abrading disks and when the operation is completed, the cams 39 pass from engagement with the anti-friction rollers 38, so that the springs 46 are free to move the rods 37 inward and thus separate the abrading disks, so that the pipe 1s free to move toward the discharge position. When the pipe carrying finger'reaches the end of the s )ring' 23, the weight of the pipe will move t e finger outward, so that t e pipe may fall by gravity.

The construction of the pipe clam s may be altered in the manner shown in ig. 3, wherein the periphery ofthe disk is provided with a stationary jaw 50 in which the pipe blank is placed, and the outer portion of the pi pc is then engaged by a movable jaw 51 carried by a lever 52 that is pivotedon a small bracket 53 projecting from the disk. The opposite end of the lever 52 is connected by an arm 54 to a pin or anti-friction roller 55 that traverses a cam gr ove 56 formed in a statiomlry disk 57, t e groove being so shaped as to positively open and close the clamping jaw for the purpose of holdin ;the pipe during the topping operation an re leasing the same after the top ing operation is completed. It is obvious t iat in place of a revolublc carrier, an endless chain 60 ma be employed, the chain being-provided with pipe carrying clamps 61 in order to carry the pipes between the abrading disks.

With a device constructed in accordance with this invention, the toppingo eration may be completed much more qulc ly; than is possible by hand, and at the same time the pipe is so finished that the top and bottorn are certain to be in parallel relation.

1 claim r 1. In combination, an endless pipe carrier, a pair of abrading disks, revoluble spring pressed shafts carrying the disks, hollow shafts in which the revoluble shafts are mounted, and cams projecting from the endless carrier'and operatively connected to said hollow shafts to thereby so arate the disks.

2 In combination, an end less pipe carrier, a air of ahradinq disks, revoluhle shafts carryln the some, hollow shafts in which said revoluhle shafts are mounted, springs engaging said revoluble shafts and tending to move the disks toward each other, means for revolving the hollow shafts, earns on the endless carrier, rods arranged to be engaged by the cams, and means for connecting the rods to the hollow shafts.

3. In combination, an endless pipe carrier, a pair of ahrading disks between which said carrier is arranged to move, revoluble shafts supporting said disks, hollow shafts receiving -&

the revoluhle shafts, and to which said revol luhle shafts are feathered, springs tending to i means for limiting the inward movement of said shafts, and disks, series of cams on the W n I endless carrier, rods hsving antI-friotion rollers arranged to be en "agedby said earn, and levers connecting ssi rods to the hollow shafts.

4. In a machine of the class described, it revolubic disk having" peripheral notches, ii plurality of spring ngers carried by said disk, said fingers being movable outward on der the weight of the "pipes to permit the latter to discharge, a reservoir slotted at the entrance side for the passage of the fingers and provided on the discharge side with a yieldahle member, and a pair of abreding disks between which said disk is arranged to travel.

In testimony that I claim the fo egoing as my own, I have hereto sllixed my signature in the presence oi two witnesses.

(HA RlJIS' USLA'R STRUTT'J.

Witnesses Wsrxrss J. S'romrn, F. A. lives 

